This invention concerns motor vehicle body tops and more particularly a foldable frame for convertible tops of the type adapted to be raised to support a fabric top material enclosing the passenger compartment and lowered and collapsed such as to be stowed in vehicle body spaces adjacent the passenger compartments.
Conventional convertible top frames consisted of hinged side frame members which essentially fold into the space to the rear of the passenger compartment upon lowering of the top. This configuration requires a relatively large space for stowage of the top frame and fabric in the lowered position.
The relatively great space required for stowage often times leads to a reduction in the rear seat area. As automobiles have been downsized, the available body space for stowage of such convertible tops has been reduced and the reduction in space sometimes requires complete elimination of a rear seat area. In the down position, such conventional designs produce relatively bulky vertical lines, i.e., a pronounced hump results, located to the rear of the passenger compartment which compromises the styling of the automobile.
The hinged sections also tend to cause sealing problems between the top fabric and the convertible top frame as continuous seals cannot be employed due to the presence of the hinged joints.
A further difficulty has been encountered with the recent downsizing of vehicles, in that such tops are typically manually operated and the leverage in manually raising the top frame is such as to cause relative difficulty to the average strength individual.
The hinged section top frames do not offer smooth clean lines when viewed from the interior of the vehicle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a convertible top frame for motor vehicle bodies which may be stowed very compactly even in downsized vehicles to minimize or eliminate reductions in passenger compartment area necessary for stowage in particularly the rear seat passenger compartment.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a convertible top frame allowing relatively trim body contours with the convertible top stowed, such as to improve the aesthetics of the vehicle body lines.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a convertible top frame which affords good leverage for manual raising of the convertible top to make such raising easily accomplished by individuals of average or below average strength.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a convertible top frame which does not employ hinged framing members such as to improve weather sealing.